These were not real job positions for Delta Air Lines. Further, any users who tried to find the positions outside of the false ads, such as with a Google search, could be led to dangerous scams.
On Dec. 15, 2023, we researched online advertisements displayed on YouTube and other websites that claimed Delta Air Lines was hiring remote workers to fill various customer service job roles. "No experience needed," the ads read. Some of the ads showed an airplane alongside the company's logo. The text in the ads specified that new hires would receive "free flights" with Delta and said the work-from-home (WFH) positions would pay anywhere from $23 to $34 per hour.
We found several additional versions of these same sorts of ads. All of them mentioned both Delta and jobs that could be performed from home.
However, as we noted above in our fact-check rating, the ads were false. We found no evidence that Delta was hiring for remote positions in customer service that would pay up to $34 per hour.
As of mid-December 2023, Delta showed 75 open positions on its official careers website. None of the positions mentioned anything about customer service roles that could be performed from home.
The Fake Job Listings Led to Scams
Regarding the fake positions: If they did not exist, then why would someone be paying to advertise them online?
Here's one strong possibility: If a user who saw one of the ads then searched Google to find more information, they would see the same thing we found: Fake job listings in Google's jobs widget that loads in search results. Those fake listings led us to requests to download dangerous browser extensions and unneeded software. In other words, the false promise of Delta remote customer service jobs also involved scams.
These jobs were not genuine offerings from Delta.
For example, one fake job listing that claimed to offer the Delta remote customer service roles advised that we install a browser extension called Cyber Shield, which had no reviews on the Chrome Web Store. A report from PCrisk.com identified that browser extension to be a threat. (Other apps or extensions also named Cyber Shield had nothing to do with the one that PCrisk.com identified as a "threat.")
Another fake job listing that also said it was for a Delta remote customer service role falsely claimed to be scanning our device within our browser with a McAfee or Apple product. This is a classic scam. Such scams aim to convince users that a security scan is actually occurring, even though nothing is happening. Once the fake scan completes, one of two scenarios will play out. In one scenario, the scams will ask users to call a phone number for company support, labeled as "Apple Support" or "Microsoft Support." However, those phone numbers lead directly to scammers. In the second scenario, the fake virus scan might claim that threats were detected and will then load up a product checkout page to purchase a security software such as CCleaner Pro. However, this would be nothing more than a misleading attempt by a scammer hoping to receive an affiliate-marketing commission based upon the customer's unneeded purchase of the software.
What a Real Delta Customer Service Job Looks Like
Aside from the fake and scammy remote job ads and listings, one genuine customer service specialist position that we found for Delta in Cincinnati, Ohio (an on-site job, not remote) said that the starting pay for the role would be $16.55. This was a lower pay rate than the $23 to $34 mentioned in the misleading ads. The job description also said that at least one year of experience was recommended, not "no experience needed." While the position did not outright promise "free flights," it did say that the job would offer "domestic and international Flight privileges for employees and eligible family members," whatever those "privileges" may be.
We reached out to Delta to ask about the false and scammy ads about the fake job listings and will update this story if we receive a response.